THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Amphibia    Caudata    Ambystomatidae  

Western Tiger Salamander
Ambystoma mavortium Baird, 1850

Current SSAR Comments:
Everson et al. (2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118: e2014719118) conducted rangewide sampling and presented genetic evidence from numerous nuclear loci that there are only two major lineages within this species. One of them corresponds to A. m. nebulosum, while limited evidence was found for the validity of the other described subspecies. They did not recommend taxonomic changes and Raffaëlli (2022, Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, Penclen) recognized all five subspecies, which we follow here.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.07.23.56.27)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.69 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Ground Puppy (Siredon lichenoides: Cooper, James G., George Suckley, William Cooper, George Gibbs, Asa Gray, and John L. Le Conte. 1859. The natural history of Washington territory, with much relating to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, and California, between the thirty-sixth and forty-ninth parallels of latitude, being those parts of the final reports on the survey of the Northern Pacific railroad route, containing the climate and physical geography, with full catalogues and descriptions of the plants and animals collected from 1853 to 1857. Bailliere Bros., London, H. Bailliere;, New York, New York. pp.); Four-legged Fish (Siredon lichenoides: Cooper, James G., George Suckley, William Cooper, George Gibbs, Asa Gray, and John L. Le Conte. 1859. The natural history of Washington territory, with much relating to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, and California, between the thirty-sixth and forty-ninth parallels of latitude, being those parts of the final reports on the survey of the Northern Pacific railroad route, containing the climate and physical geography, with full catalogues and descriptions of the plants and animals collected from 1853 to 1857. Bailliere Bros., London, H. Bailliere;, New York, New York. pp.); Spotted Salamander (Amblystoma mavortium: Yarrow, Henry C. 1876. List of Skeletons and Crania in the Section of Comparative Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum for use during the International Exhibition of 1876 in Connection with the Representation of the Medical Department U.S. Army. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. pp.); Axolotl (Amblystoma mavortium: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); New Mexican Salamander (Amblystoma trisruptum: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium: Smith, Hobart M. 1934. The Amphibians of Kansas. American Midland Naturalist 15(4):377-527); Gray Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum diaboli: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Yellow-barred Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Blotched Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum melanostictum: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Barred Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum mavortium: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Arizona Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum nebulosum: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Sonora Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Utah Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum utahense: Conant, Roger, Fred R. Cagle, Coleman J. Goin, Charles H. Lowe, Wilfred T. Neill, M. Graham Netting, Karl P. Schmidt, Charles E. Shaw, Robert C. Stebbins, and Charles M. Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956(3):172-185); Gray Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum diaboli: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36); Sonoran Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi: Collins, Joseph T., James E. Huheey, James L. Knight, and Hobart M. Smith. 1978. Standard common and current scientific names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Herpetological Circulars (7):36);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
Amphibian Species of the World
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Pertinent LIterature:
1850 Baird, Spencer F. Revision of the North American tailed-batrachia, with descriptions of new genera and species. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 1(4):281-294
2021 Everson, Kathryn M., Levi N. Graya, Angela G. Jones, Nicolette M. Lawrence, Mary E. Foley, Kelly L. Sovacool, Justin D. Kratovil, Scott Hotaling, Paul M. Hime, Andrew Storferd, Gabriela Parra-Oleaf, Ruth Percino-Daniel, X. Aguilar-Miguel, Eric M. O’Neill, Luis Zambranof,H. Bradley Shaffer, and David W. Weisrock Geography is more important than life history in the recent diversification of the tiger salamander complex. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 118(17 e2014719118):10
2022 Raffaelli, J. Salamanders & Newts of the World. Plumelec, France: Penclen Édition.. pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:19 CT